A long ways from home

Well, I can now add marmots to the extensive list of animals that have been seen in my yard. This lovely fellow moved in under my shipping container over the last week. Only difference between this guy and all of the other visitors I have had to date, is that marmots are not found anywhere near the Lower Mainland. The yellow-bellied marmot is found in the south central region of BC and throughout the Rocky Mountains (roughly a minimum 4.5 hour drive from here). Who knows how he managed to hitch a ride all this way. I have contacted a marmot foundation to see what is the best course of action. Poor guy will be lonely all by himself down here and really needs a ride back home!

Popping up to say hello

They are basically vegetarian, so I have been providing a diet of fruits and vegetables until I hear back.

More Please!

On the construction front, I am continuing to install the WRB/AB, exterior insulation, and siding on the north elevation. To date I have the siding installed up to about the 7ft mark and am pleased to advise that the membrane and insulation are now installed all the way to the roof line. It feels great to have one complete side of the house waterproofed and covered with insulation.

I have to say how easy it is to work on a conventional wall without exterior insulation. This is the garage wall. Notice in the foreground the portion of wall that is insulated, there was a lot of stress during the forming of the foundation wall and garage slab to ensure that the exterior plane of the insulated wall aligned with the plywood on the garage wall to allow a nice smooth siding interface.

The north elevation is much faster as there is limited penetrations. Really liking the look!

I have been working off two lifts of scaffold and in general this has been much faster and easier than working off a telescoping lift.

Just finishing the last of the water resistant and air barrier membrane on the north elevation at the top of the wall

Took a while to get back into the grove cutting out the rebates to fit around the window bucks. Have not done this since last September

Finished result!

I concentrated on reducing thermal bridging where ever I could on this design. Here we see the set-off of the roof from the wall surface to allow continuous insulation to flow past this interface. The flashing with foil face membrane both provides a cross cavity day-lighting of any moisture that manages to get into the assembly as well as providing the high roof side ventilation.